A letter that was written by Bradley Williams and printed in the Ravalli Republic newspaper in Montana yesterday, comments on the ads that were run by (I believe) Compassion & Choices in Montana.The letter to the editor stated:
I was offended when the out-of-state proponents of assisted suicide ran a TV ad during the Winter Olympics. It was a very slick and seductively polished video planting seeds of suicide while we already have one of the highest suicide rates in the nation.
I am 62 years old and also concerned about the way my wife and I will be treated when we are older. I, for one, do not want my doctor telling me or her that we should just go kill ourselves. We are taxpayers who have long supported our community. We deserve to be valued, not steered to suicide. I have read Senator Greg Hinkle's report against legalizing assisted suicide. His key points include that it is a recipe for elder abuse, especially for those who have a bit of money that an heir or a new "best friend" might want. He also discusses the link between legalizing assisted suicide and high suicide rates. In Oregon, they legalized assisted suicide in 1997. Just three years later, the suicide rate, excluding those deaths, was "increasing significantly." This only makes sense. Glorify one type of suicide as "death with dignity" and other suicides follow. Montana has a terrible suicide problem already. We don't need this. Senator Hinkle's report. Please urge your legislator to be rational and vote against assisted suicide and for Senator Hinkle's Montana Patient Protection Act, an Act prohibiting aid in dying. I did!
Bradley D. Williams
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